proficiency level distributions of recent and established immigrants and the Canadian-born in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments (PS-TRE) according to various sociodemographic and immigration-related characteristics, including age, gender, educational attainment, mother tongue, the self-reported ability to speak an official language, country of highest education, age at landing in Canada, and immigration category.
Examining skill proficiencies according to these characteristics can help us to identify groups with low proficiencies in these key information-processing skills and hence to develop better targeted training strategies.
The results of such analysis also provide useful baseline information for developing various programs and
service products aimed at immigrants, including choices concerning service-delivery modes by various levels of government, non-governmental organizations, or the private sector.
Age
Figures 2.1a–2.1c show variations in the average scores and percentage distributions of proficiency levels in literacy, numeracy, and PS-TRE, by age group, for recent and established immigrants and the Canadian-born aged
16 to 65. In all three populations, skill proficiency varies by age; however, the relationship is not linear. The most obvious pattern that is common to them is that the two oldest groups (45–54 and 55–65) perform below younger groups in all three skills. This is especially true for the oldest group (55–65).
In literacy and numeracy, the average scores are highest for the youngest group (16–24) for both recent and established immigrants; for the Canadian-born, the 25–34 age group shows the highest average scores.
Of note is the high performance of the youngest age group of established immigrants (16–24). These are the immigrants who came to Canada when they were young (under 14) and who have at least some years of education in Canada. They show proficiency levels similar to those of their Canadian-born counterparts in all three skills.
In general, the rate of non-participation in the PS-TRE assessment rises with age, and the proportion scoring at Level 2 or 3 decreases with age for all three population groups. The highest rate of non-participation in the PS-TRE assessment is found in the oldest recent-immigrant and established-immigrant age groups (55–65). Nearly two-thirds of recent immigrants (64 per cent) and about two-fifths of established immigrants (42 per cent) in this age range did not participate in the PS-TRE assessment.
Figure 2.1a Literacy – Average scores and percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65, by age group, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
100 260 257 257 252
207 Source: Table 2.1a
Notes: 1. Striped bars indicate that the estimates are not reliable (coefficient of variation is above 33.3%).
2. See Table 1.1 for national average for Canadian-born.
Figure 2.1b Numeracy – Average scores and percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65, by age group, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
Average score 254 248 253 249
194
271274 267 260
243 240
Source: Table 2.1b
Notes: 1. Striped bars indicate that the estimates are not reliable (coefficient of variation is above 33.3%).
2. See Table 1.2 for national average for Canadian-born.
Figure 2.1c PS-TRE – Percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65, by age group, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
100
Source: Table 2.1c
Note: Striped bars indicate that the estimates are not reliable (coefficient of variation is above 33.3%).
22 CHAPTER 2: SKILLS PROFICIENCY BY SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND IMMIGRATION-RELATED CHARACTERISTICS Information from the General Social Surveys shows
that rates of Internet use are lower among older people, especially among those older than 55 (Veenhof and Timusk, 2009). The fact that older people have lower proficiency scores in PS-TRE, for example, may be a result of the effect of aging or it may be a cohort-specific effect — that people born earlier had less or no exposure to computers and the Internet at school, work, and in their everyday lives, especially when they were young.
It is likely that low proficiency scores among older age groups are a result of both effects. It should be noted that the pattern of lower proficiency scores among older people is derived from cross-sectional survey data and reflects differences among people of different age groups at the time of the survey. For this reason, we cannot distinguish one effect from another.
Except for the youngest age group of established immigrants (16–24) who show similar proficiencies to their Canadian-born counterparts, within each age group, those born in Canada, on average, score higher than recent and established immigrants in all three skills.
Gender
For both established immigrants and the Canadian-born, gender differences in literacy and PS-TRE are relatively small. For recent immigrants, however, gender gaps
in favour of men are observed in literacy and PS-TRE results. The average literacy score for men is 11 points higher than for women. For example, the percentage of recent immigrants scoring at Level 1 or below in literacy is higher among women (31 per cent) than men (24 per cent). In PS-TRE, the percentage scoring at Level 2 or 3 for recent immigrant women is 7 percentage points lower than for their male counterparts. The percentage of people who did not participate in the PS-TRE assessment is also a few points higher for women than for men among recent immigrants.
Gender differences are more prominent in numeracy.
On average, men perform better than women for the Canadian population as a whole, including both immigrant groups, but the difference is larger for immigrants, especially for recent immigrants. Women lag behind men in the average numeracy score by 25 points for recent immigrants, 18 points for established immigrants, and 12 points for the Canadian-born. The percentage scoring at proficiency Level 1 or below is also considerably higher for women than for men for both recent (41 per cent versus 26 per cent) and established immigrants (37 per cent versus 28 per cent), and for the Canadian-born (21 per cent versus 17 per cent). Moreover, a higher proportion of men score at Level 4 or 5 in all three population groups.
Figure 2.2a Literacy – Average scores and percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65, by gender, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
100
Male Female Male Female Male Female 150
Recent immigrants Established immigrants Canadian-born
Average score
Source: Table 2.2a
Note: See Table 1.1 for national average for Canadian-born.
Figure 2.2b Numeracy – Average scores and percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65, by gender, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
Level 4 or 5
Recent immigrants Male Female
Established immigrants Male Female Canadian-born
Note: See Table 1.2 for national average for Canadian-born.
Source: Table 2.2c
Figure 2.2c PS-TRE – Percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65, by gender, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
100
Recent immigrants Male Female
Established immigrants Male Female Canadian-born
24 CHAPTER 2: SKILLS PROFICIENCY BY SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND IMMIGRATION-RELATED CHARACTERISTICS Further analysis of the data by gender and by age
group shows that the gender gap in numeracy tends to be larger for older age groups than for younger age groups, especially for recent immigrants (Figure 2.2e).
Among recent immigrants, women lag behind men in the average numeracy score by 36 and 53 points for the two oldest age groups (45–54 and 55–65), while the differences in scores among men and women in the two youngest age groups (16–24 and 25–34) are only 12 and 17 points, respectively. For established immigrants, the three younger age groups show little gender difference in the average proficiency scores, but for the two oldest
age groups, differences of 23 (45–54) and of 28 (55–65) points are observed between men and women on the numeracy scale. For the Canadian-born, the gender gap also increases from 10 to 16 points from the youngest to the oldest group. In literacy, when all age groups are combined, gender differences in the average proficiency scores are small. However, when breaking down the analysis further by age group, larger gender gaps in the average proficiency scores in favour of men are observed among older age groups, especially among older recent immigrants (Figure 2.2d).
Figure 2.2d Literacy – Differences in average proficiency scores between men and women aged 16 to 65, by age group, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
Score difference
Recent immigrants Established immigrants Canadian-born
3 4
Source: Table 2.2d
Note: Striped bars indicate that the differences between means are not statistically significant.
Figure 2.2e Numeracy – Differences in average proficiency scores between men and women aged 16 to 65, by age group, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
60
Note: Striped bars indicate that the differences between means are not statistically significant.
Educational attainment
In the analysis of skill proficiency by educational attainment, we group educational attainment levels into five categories: less than school diploma; high-school diploma; postsecondary education (PSE) – below bachelor’s degree; PSE – bachelor’s degree; and PSE – first professional degree,7 master’s degree, or Ph.D.
Proficiencies in literacy, numeracy, and PS-TRE show strong positive relationships with educational attainment for recent and established immigrants and the Canadian-born. Higher educational attainment is accompanied by higher average proficiency scores, a higher percentage proficient at Level 3 or above, and a lower percentage scoring at Level 1 or below (Figures 2.3a–2.3c). These relationships are not surprising since education is perhaps the most important mechanism through which people learn and develop these cognitive skills (OECD, 2012).
7 The categories that constitute a first professional degree can be found in the definitions in Appendix I.
The gap in average proficiency scores in literacy between those with the lowest educational attainment (less than high-school diploma) and those with the highest educational attainment (first professional degree, master’s degree, or Ph.D.) is quite large: 77 points for the Canadian-born, 94 points for established immigrants, and 66 points for recent immigrants. Further, except for the increment from high-school diploma to PSE – below bachelor’s degree, for which the literacy proficiency gain is modest, each other increment in educational level is associated with a large increase in the average literacy proficiency score. The pattern for numeracy is similar to that for literacy.
26 CHAPTER 2: SKILLS PROFICIENCY BY SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND IMMIGRATION-RELATED CHARACTERISTICS Figure 2.3a Literacy – Average scores and percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65, by educational attainment, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
Canadian-born Canadian-Recent immigrants Established immigrants born
100
Source: Table 2.3a
Notes: 1. A. Less than high-school diploma, B. High-school diploma, C. PSE – below bachelor’s degree, D. PSE – bachelor’s degree, E. PSE – first professional degree, master’s degree, or Ph.D.
2. See Table 1.1 for national average for Canadian-born.
3. Striped bars indicate that the estimates are not reliable (coefficient of variation is above 33.3%); grey bars indicate that the estimates have been suppressed to meet confidentiality requirements.
Figure 2.3b Numeracy – Average scores and percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65, by educational attainment, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
Level 4 or 5 Recent immigrants Established immigrants
A. B. C. D. E. A. B. C. D. E. A. B. C. D. E.
Source: Table 2.3b
Notes: 1. A. Less than high-school diploma, B. High-school diploma, C. PSE – below bachelor’s degree, D. PSE – bachelor’s degree, E. PSE – first professional degree, master’s degree, or Ph.D.
2. See Table 1.2 for national average for Canadian-born.
3. Striped bars indicate that the estimates are not reliable (coefficient of variation is above 33.3%); grey bars indicate that the estimates have been suppressed to meet confidentiality requirements.
While few immigrants or Canadian-born people with a high-school diploma or less score at the highest literacy or numeracy levels (Level 4 or 5), a notable percentage of adults in this educational attainment category score at Level 3 in these two skills. The pattern for PS-TRE deviates from what is observed for literacy and numeracy.
About one-fifth of recent immigrants and the Canadian-born without a high-school diploma score at the highest level (Level 2 or 3) in PS-TRE. More than one-fifth of recent and established immigrants and more than one-third of the Canadian-born with only a high-school diploma are proficient at the highest level (Level 2 or 3). It appears that a notable proportion of immigrants and the Canadian-born with low levels of education are able to use a computer or the Internet to solve relatively complex practical problems in their everyday life or at work. When we compare skill levels between these groups, we should keep in mind that many of those without a high-school diploma may still be in the process of completing high school and could therefore experience a significant increase in proficiency in a matter of just a few years.
At the high end of the educational spectrum (bachelor’s degree or higher), we observe that few Canadian-born adults with a university education score at the lowest skill proficiency level in any of the three skill domains. Among university-educated immigrants, the percentages scoring at Level 1 or below in literacy and numeracy are 15 per cent and 20 per cent,
respectively, for recent immigrants, and 10 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively, for established immigrants.
These proportions are much higher than those for the Canadian-born population, whose corresponding percentages are 2 per cent in literacy and 3 per cent in numeracy. In PS-TRE, the percentage scoring below Level 1 is 19 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, for recent and established immigrants.
Also among the university educated, slightly less than one-third of established immigrants (31 per cent) and slightly more than one third of recent immigrants (35 per cent) score at Level 2 in literacy, compared to 14 per cent of the Canadian-born population. In numeracy, 30 per cent of established immigrants and 32 per cent of recent immigrants score at Level 2, compared to 19 per cent of the Canadian-born. In PS-TRE, the percentage scoring at Level 1 is 35 per cent and 33 per cent, Source: Table 2.3c
Notes: 1. A. Less than high-school diploma, B. High-school diploma, C. PSE – below bachelor’s degree, D. PSE – bachelor’s degree, E. PSE – first professional degree, master’s degree, or Ph.D.
2. Striped bars indicate that the estimates are not reliable (coefficient of variation is above 33.3%).
Figure 2.3c PS-TRE – Percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65, by educational attainment, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
Level 2 or 3 Recent immigrants Established immigrants
A. B. C. D. E. A. B. C. D. E. A. B. C. D. E.
28 CHAPTER 2: SKILLS PROFICIENCY BY SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND IMMIGRATION-RELATED CHARACTERISTICS respectively, for recent and established immigrants.
Lower official-language proficiency may explain at least in part the low score of some university educated immigrants.
Figures 2.3d and 2.3e show the extent of the spread in the literacy and numeracy proficiency scores by educational level and by immigrant status. A longer bar indicates greater variation in skill proficiency within each educational level; a shorter bar indicates smaller variation. There are rather large variations in proficiency scores among people at the same educational level
—the variation is larger for immigrants, especially for recent immigrants, than for the Canadian-born.
Although, on average, educational attainment is positively associated with skill proficiency, it is also true that a high educational attainment level does
not guarantee high proficiency for everyone and low educational attainment does not necessarily mean low proficiency at an individual level. Indeed, as Figures 2.3d and 2.3e show, the proficiency scores of the highest quartile among recent immigrants with high-school education are above those of the lowest quartile with the first professional degree, master’s degree, or Ph.D.
At each of the five selected educational levels, immigrants have lower average proficiency scores than the Canadian-born in all three skill domains. It is important to keep in mind that the skills in all three domains are assessed in either English or French. The high percentage of immigrants with university education who perform at a low proficiency level may to some extent reflect their low official-language proficiency instead of low proficiency in literacy, numeracy, or PS-TRE per se.
Figure 2.3d Literacy – Average scores with 0.95 confidence interval and scores at the 5th, 25th, 75th, and 95th percentiles of population aged 16 to 65, by educational attainment, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
95th
PSE – bachelor’s degree
PSE – first profession-al degree, master’s
degree, or Ph.D.
Source: Table 2.3d
Note: A. Recent immigrants, B. Established immigrants, C. Canadian-born
Figure 2.3e Numeracy – Average scores with 0.95 confidence interval and scores at the 5th, 25th, 75th, and 95th percentiles of population aged 16 to 65, by educational attainment, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
95th percentile 75th percentile Mean and 0.95 confidence interval 25th
percentile 5th percentile
Less than
high-school diploma High-school diploma
PSE – below bachelor’s degree
PSE – bachelor’s degree
PSE – first profession-al degree, master’s
degree, or Ph.D.
A. B. C. A. B. C. A. B. C. A. B. C. A. B. C.
400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50
0 Scale scores
Source: Table 2.3e
Note: A. Recent immigrants, B. Established immigrants, C. Canadian-born
30 CHAPTER 2: SKILLS PROFICIENCY BY SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND IMMIGRATION-RELATED CHARACTERISTICS Figure 2.4a Literacy – Average scores and percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65, by mother tongue, recent and established immigrants and Canadian-born, Canada, 2012
Level 4 or 5
269 280 267 266
252
Recent immigrants Established immigrants Canadian-born
English or bilingual French Other
100
English or bilingual French Other English or bilingual French Other
80 60 40 20 0
Source: Table 2.4a
Notes: 1. See Table 1.1 for national average for Canadian-born.
2. Striped bars indicate that the estimates are not reliable (coefficient of variation is above 33.3%).
Mother tongue and the ability to speak an official language
PIAAC does not directly measure respondents’ official-language proficiency. It is therefore not possible to accurately measure the effect of official-language proficiency on immigrants’ performance in the literacy, numeracy, and PS-TRE assessments. However, PIAAC does collect information on mother tongue from all respondents, as well as on their self-assessed ability to speak an official language (among immigrants). This information allows for analyses of the skill proficiency in literacy, numeracy, and PS-TRE of immigrants and the Canadian-born by mother tongue and self-assessed ability to speak an official language among immigrants.
Mother tongue
“Mother tongue” refers to the first and second language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the survey. When measured in either English or French, proficiency scores in literacy, numeracy, and PS-TRE of immigrants with a non-official language as their mother tongue are considerably lower than those of the Canadian-born regardless of the mother tongue of the Canadian-born respondents.
Immigrants whose mother tongue is English, or both
English and French (bilingual), also show lower average proficiency scores than the Canadian-born with English or both English and French (bilingual) as mother tongues, but the gaps are much smaller. Among people with English or both English and French (bilingual) as mother tongues, the observed differences between immigrants and the Canadian-born cannot be attributed to the difference in official-language proficiency, so other factors appear to be at play.
Among people whose mother tongue is French, little proficiency difference in the three skills is observed between immigrants and the Canadian-born. The small difference observed between French-mother-tongue immigrants and French-mother-tongue Canadian-born groups contrasts with the large difference between immigrants and the Canadian-born population with English or both English and French (bilingual) as mother tongues. The smaller gap between French-mother-tongue immigrants and their Canadian-born counterparts is not because French-mother-tongue immigrants have higher proficiency scores than immigrants with English or both English and French (bilingual) as mother tongues, but a result of lower proficiency scores for the French-mother-tongue Canadian-born population (compared with the Canadian-born group with English or both English and French [bilingual] as mother tongues).
Figure 2.4b Numeracy – Average scores and percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65,
Figure 2.4b Numeracy – Average scores and percentage distributions of proficiency levels of population aged 16 to 65,